Sport and the Military
Sport and the Military
On battleships, behind the trenches of the Western Front and in the midst of the Desert War, British servicemen and women have played sport in the least promising circumstances. When 400 soldiers were asked in Burma in 1946 what they liked about the Army, 108 put sport in first place – well ahead of comradeship and leave – and this book explores the fascinating history of organized sport in the life of officers and other ranks of all three British services from 1880–1960. Drawing on a wide range of sources, this book examines how organized sport developed in the Victorian army and navy, became the focus of criticism for Edwardian army reformers, and was officially adopted during the Great War to boost morale and esprit de corps. It shows how service sport adapted to the influx of professional sportsmen, especially footballers, during the Second World War and the National Service years.
- Unique contribution to the social history of all three branches of the armed forces
- Combines the two great British institutions of the military and sport with a broad appeal to academics and enthusiasts
- Covers a wide period, linking late nineteenth-century army reforms to the modern services, tracing the development of attitudes to sport
Reviews & endorsements
"This is an interesting read for those with any connection to the British military. It is a meticulously researched account that sheds light on a hitherto largely overlooked subject. It is also a tale of how much the nation changed over the 80 years that the book focuses on. The Duke of Wellington did not claim (as is widely believed) that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, but it is clear that sport has long played a valuable role in the British armed forces." -TLS
"Through an exhaustive examination of published and unpublished sources, the authors have addressed a significan void in the understanding of the historical importance of sport within the British military and its facilitation of civil-military relations. Recommended." -Choice
"the authors have also shown how social and cultural history can come together with military history to the benefit of all three. In doing so they have also emphasized that military historians must draw on other areas of the historical discipline if they really want to understand what made the armed services work." -David French, Twentieth Century British History
"Detailed, thoroughly well organized, and written in a lively and engaging prose, Sport and the Military serves as a significant contribution to British military and social history. This book is testament to the value of studying the history of sport." -Matthew P. Llewellyn, Journal of British Studies
"Sport and the Military is an interesting and significant addition to military historiography, and well worth reading." -Soldiers of the Queen: Journal of the Victorian Military Society
"Mason and Reidi have written an elegant book with wide historical and political implications of significance to all historians." - Ross McKibbin, Sport in History
"Detailed, thoroughly well organized, and written in a lively and engaging prose, Sport and the Military serves as a significant contribution to British military and social history. This book is testament to the value of studying the history of sport." - Journal of British Studies
"Mason and Riedi demonstrate in this study the many ways in which sport can be used as a lens through which to study the past. For historians of sport, the British Empire, and military history, this fine book will serve as an excellent introduction to the subject." -Wanda Ellen Wakefield, Journal of Sport History
"Tony Mason and Eliza Riedi offer a fascinating account that highlights the importance of military sport, not just at home but on battleships, behind the trenches in World War I, and in the midst of the Desert War… Their book should be essential reading not only for scholars and students working on military history and the history of sport, but also for those interested in modern British social and cultural history more generally." -American Historical Review
"This is an impressive book based on extensive archival research, but without being too dense." -Paul Ward, Canadian Journal of History
"It is difficult to disagree with or doubt any of the lines of interpretation taken by Mason and Riedi. The book is exhaustively researched, drawing upon a wide range of material from the press, and civilian and military records. It is free of unnecessary theory or jargon... It is clearly told, carefully nuanced and strongly rooted in the evidential base." -English Historical Review
Product details
October 2012Adobe eBook Reader
9781139785976
0 pages
0kg
20 b/w illus.
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. The growth of service sport, 1880–1914
- 2. Officer sports and their critics, 1880–1914
- 3. Sport in the great war
- 4. The amateur era, 1919–39
- 5. Soldiers, sailors and civilians
- 6. A different kind of war
- 7. The National Service years: the summit of military sport?
- Conclusion.
